Photographs

Grey background with white text reading 'Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Archive' and a black and white photo of two men working on a large ship propeller

Fit to Print: Defining Moments from the Fairfax Photo Archive selected by Mike Bowers

Explore the art of photojournalism with highlights from the Fairfax Photo Archive.

Exhibition

Over 32,000 items, including rare books, pamphlets, maps, and ephemera, covering topics such as Oceania, transport, and literature. Compiled by Sir John Alexander Ferguson, it is a key resource for Australian history and bibliography.

Collection guide

Magazines and books from the 00s and 90s spread out, including the 'Australian Women's Weekly: Children's birthday cake book' and a document titled 'Y2K: State disaster contingency plan'

Discovery video: 90s and 00s nostalgia

Join Madeline and Allister as they dive into our collection and discover items from the '90s and '00s.

Video

Six women ballet dancers standing in a line

Greg Power & National Library of Australia, Annabel Knight, Juliette Barton and dancers during dress rehearsal for Sid's Waltzing Masquerade by Aszure Barton, Sydney Dance Company, The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 1 September 2009, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-132043442

Dance collection

Our dance collection contains portraits, manuscripts, oral history interviews, photographs, music scores, personal papers, theatre programs and memorabilia.

Information article

Man in a leather jacket and cap seated in an old biplane

JL Turner, Mr WE Hart, the first Australian aviator in his biplane, [seated at controls, 1911?], nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144639799

Crome Collection

The Crome Collection includes papers, photographs, ephemera, aero-philatelic material, objects, books and pamphlets relating to Australian aviation collected by Ernest Alfred Crome.

Collection guide

Black and white photo of damage to a caravan park about Cyclone Tracy, including several large tree branches on the ground and damaged caravans

Alan Dwyer, Caravan park in Darwin after Cyclone Tracy, December, 1974, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-148903604

Commemorating Cyclone Tracy through images and oral histories

Fifty years on, see how the destruction and impact of Cyclone Tracy in Darwin 1974 is captured in our collection.

Blog

Yves Coffin, Coffin collection of photographs of Bali, Cham, Javanese, Khmer and Thai art, architecture and sculpture, (196?), nla.gov.au/nla.obj-140366892

Coffin Collection

Featuring over 4,700 photographs of ancient art and architecture across Southeast Asia is the Coffin Collection. Captured between 1955 and 1972 by Yves Coffin, this collection highlights Khmer monuments at Angkor, Cham sculptures, and Thai temples, alongside the art of Java and Bali. A valuable visual record of Southeast Asia's rich cultural heritage.

Collection guide

Poster depicts a woman in blue walking alongside a horse; a clown in a yellow suit stands next to her

Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Combined Shows, May Wirth the greatest bareback rider of all time, 1919, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136390630

Circus and illusion research guide

Circus, magic and mime, and puppetry

Research guide

Chinnery Collection

Papers, maps and a large collection of photographs related to Papua New Guinea mainly from the period 1910-1940.

Collection guide

A group of four people who are very colourfully dressed, holding signs in a park. There are more groups of colourful people in the background.

Jiayuan (Tyr) Liang, The LGBTIQA+ Communities Assemble at Light Square Before at the Pride March, Adelaide, 5 November, 2022, nla.obj-3144558245

Celebrating Pride Month with new collection items

See some new photographs in our collection, taken at 2022 Pride events held in Adelaide and Perth.

News article

A black and white image of a man holding a microphone on a stand with 2 hands. He is holding the mic close to his mouth and has his eyes shut. He is wearing a black t-shirt and jeans.

Leigh Henningham, Brian Johnson, lead vocalist with AC/DC performing during the Back in Black Tour, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, Victoria, 27-28 February, 1981, nla.obj-3128575954

Celebrating 50 years of AC/DC

To celebrate this milestone, we are sharing 3 recently acquired photographs of the band

News article

Harold Cazneaux's first camera, 1904, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-141166704

Harold Cazneaux (1878–1953) was perhaps Australia's best-known photographer of the early twentieth century. He purchased this camera in 1904, shortly after moving from Adelaide to Sydney, and made photographs of Sydney's streets and waterways.

In 1909 he became the first Australian photographer to exhibit his works in a solo show.

Cazneaux was a master of the pictorialist style of photography, using soft focus to capture scenes that were - and remain - familiar to many Australians in a new light. He was able to find a timeless, extraordinary beauty in the everyday.

Cazneaux collection

A large collection of glass negatives, papers and photographs dating mostly from 1904 to 1940 depicting many aspects of Australian life and architecture.

Collection guide

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